One of the unforgettable experiences that we had during our last summer vacation in France was collecting flints along the coast of Bretagne.
Collecting Flints along the coast of Bretagne, France.
Alan and Pete collecting Flints along the coast of Bretagne, France.
Flint is a type of stone – it’s a sedimentary rock that can be best identified by its smooth and hard appearance. It was used to start fires and to make stone tools such as knife, thousands of years ago, during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic periods, which is from about 100,000 to 10,000 years ago. We learned that during the Mesolithic Period beginning (roughly and depending on geographical location) 10,000 years ago, flint entered into its Golden Age and became extremely popular as an exceptionally high quality stone tool. Its excellent durability has made it possible to accurately date its use over this time.
Collecting Flints along the coast of Bretagne, France.
Alan taught me and Pete how to identify a Flint stone. Here are some of its characteristics:
- The color of the rock usually appears black or dark gray.
- Uncut flints have smooth and rounded shapes. Some flints have edges which means that they have been scraped away and this shows that they have been used as a tool before.
- Flints have natural, glossy surface.
- Flints produced a “spark” when it strikes against the object that is made of carbon steel.
As we were walking along the coast of Pointe Saint Mathieu, Pete noticed something special – it was a small flint stone. We were so thrilled and fascinated the moment Pete found one first, and it motivated us to look for more flints. A few days later, we decided to spend a day on Pontusval Beach and hunt for more flints. We got so thrilled and excited as we found and collected many beautiful pieces of flint – with a variety of sizes, shapes, colors and forms.
Collecting Flints along the coast of Bretagne, France.
Collecting Flints along the coast of Bretagne, France.
As we got home, Alan and Pete made a stone knife out of the big flint stone to see if it can really cut. It was our (Pete and I) first time to see flint stones, and our first time to see flint stones cut and shaped as tools those thousands of years ago. Oh, boy! It was so sharp – it cut like a modern knife!
Looking for Flints along the coast of Bretagne, France.
Looking for Flints at Point Saint Mathieu, Bretagne, France.
Overall, it was a great and remarkable experience. We were happy as a clam especially because my son saw flint stones with his naked eyes which nowadays is becoming rare.
Little Lilly travel tip:
- The best places to find flints in Bretagne is on the seashore, along the beaches, along the coast, near boulders, or near a batch of pebbles.
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